South Carolina: Turner Launches New TV Ad as Special Election Heats Up (VIDEO)

Congressional candidate Teddy Turner launched a potent new ad Tuesday, looking to differentiate himself from a crowded field of Republicans with South Carolina’s 1st District special election primary just weeks away.

“We’ve come a long way. I know I’ve spent too much, but what’s a few trillion? It was all for you,” a Lothario-looking politician in a candle-lit room says in the spot. “But I’ve changed. I’ll keep my promises this time. It’ll be different. I’m sorry for all the mistakes I’ve made. Sugar, just give me one more chance.”

A female narrator then chimes in as video of framed photos of a number of the other GOP candidates, including former Gov. Mark Sanford, comes on the screen. “Break up with career politicians!” she says. “The right guy: Teddy Turner. Conservative Republican. Economics teacher. Not a politician.”

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The ad is a not-so-oblique knock at Sanford, the frontrunner who released an ad last week in which he said, “I’ve experienced how none of us go through life without mistakes.”

The new Turner ad, which begins airing Tuesday, is backed by 1,000 gross rating points over two weeks in the Charleston, S.C., broadcast media market. It will also air on cable TV in the Savannah media market and across the district on radio and online.

Turner’s opponents in the March 19 GOP primary include Sanford, state Sen. Larry Grooms, state Rep. Chip Limehouse and former state Sen. John Kuhn. If, as expected, no candidate gets more than 50 percent of the vote, a runoff will be held April 2.

Turner, the son of TV mogul Ted Turner, isn’t the only candidate out with new ads. Grooms and Sanford recently began airing new spots as well.

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The GOP nominee will probably face Democrat Elizabeth Colbert Busch, the sister of comedian Stephen Colbert, in the May 7 special election. She’s the heavy favorite to win the Democratic primary.